Chapter 11

1. Chapter 11 1950’s

2. Section 1-The Economy Changes • During World War II, the federal government focused the nation's economic resources on winning the war against Germany and Japan. • When the war ended, the government faced serious economic problems at home. • How Did the Economy Change After the War? • The first problem was the fear of unemployment. • The war effort had provided plenty of jobs for Americans at home.

3. Section 1-The Economy Changes • Now, 12 million men and women in the military would be "demobilized” or returned home to civilian life. • Most of these people would be looking for work. • In 1946, Congress passed the Full Employment Act. • For the first time in American history, the federal government took responsibility for trying to help the economy provide jobs for the American people.

4. Section 1-The Economy Changes • As feared, when wartime production ended, the economy rapidly declined. • However, this quickly changed. • Americans wanted to buy cars, household products, and new homes. • Few of these were produced during the war years. • What Was the G I Bill? • The GI Bill was an important law passed in 1944. Soldiers were called "GIs." • After the war, this law provided former GIs with money to attend college and other benefits.

5. Section 1-The Economy Changes • Millions bought homes under the GI Bill. • The GI Bill turned out to be a good economic investment. • Americans became better educated. • More people entered white-collar jobs. • White-collar is a name used to describe office workers and professionals. • Homes were now affordable for young families. • Millions of new homes were built in areas surrounding cities, which were called suburbs.

6. Section 1-The Economy Changes • Large numbers of babies were born, creating a "baby boom." • More children meant that more schools had to be built, creating more jobs for teachers. • From 1946 into the 1960s, the United States was the strongest economy in the world. • Two decades of economic prosperity led to the creation of a large American middle class.

7. Section 1-The Economy Changes • How Did Farming Help the Economy? • After World War II, American farmers became the most productive in the world. • Using science and technology, American farmers produced a surplus of food. • The government bought much of this surplus and shipped it to Europe. • Gas powered tractors replaced horse and human labor. • Scientific research developed grains that could resist disease. • Using different machines, a single farmer could plow, plant, seed, and harvest various crops.

8. Section 1-The Economy Changes • A farm machine could dig up thousands of potatoes and put them in sacks in a matter of hours. • Mechanical pickers harvested fruit. • Modern irrigation systems assured that farmers would have enough water. • Because of these improvements that saved time and labor, farming became a major part of the nation's growing economy.

9. Section 2- Searching for Peace • Americans were happy that World War II had ended. • Thousands celebrated in the streets of the nation's cities as their friends and loved ones returned home from the war. • They waved flags, honked horns, cheered, and cried. • What Damages Did the War Cause? • The death and destruction caused by World War II was the worst in history. • More than 55 million people died.

10. Section 2- Searching for Peace • The United States alone lost nearly 400,000 military men and women. • Many millions more were seriously wounded. • The bombings of Europe and Japan caused millions of civilian deaths. • The damage to cities in Europe cost well over $200 billion. • Direct costs of fighting by all the countries combined was over a trillion dollars. • Of that sum, America had spent $360 billion.

11. Section 2- Searching for Peace • For many years to come, the world would feel the effects of World War II. • How Did the War Change America's Role? • Americans knew that their role in the world had changed. • The country could never again isolate itself from world problems. • The United States was now one of the most powerful nations in the world. • Not only did the nation have the power of the atomic bomb, but also it had new responsibilities in the world.

12. Section 2- Searching for Peace • In the months following the end of the war, Americans were uncertain how the country should move on. • However, people did know that they wanted to develop a way to keep a lasting peace. • Why Was the United Nations Formed? • Delegates from 50 nations met in San Francisco, California, in April 1945. • They created the United Nations (UN), a new world organization. • Member countries of the General Assembly would come up with peaceful methods of settling international problems.

13. Section 2- Searching for Peace • They wanted to do a better job of preventing wars than the League of Nations had. • The UN set up a Security Council. • Eleven members (now 15) had the responsibility of keeping the peace. • The United States, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and China were made permanent members of the Security Council. • In response to the treatment of the Jews during World War II, the UN General Assembly declared genocide unlawful. • Genocide is the killing of a group based on its race or political views.

14. Section 2- Searching for Peace • The assembly agreed that any country found guilty of this practice would be brought before an international court. • The United Nations was soon tested with a problem in the Middle East. • Palestine had been under the control of Great Britain since World War I. • The Arabs and Jews who lived there wanted the British to leave. • The United Nations wanted a Jewish nation and an Arab nation to be created out of Palestine. • In 1948, the new nation of Israel was established.

15. Section 2- Searching for Peace • Arab nations in the Middle East objected to the creation of Israel and declared war. • In 1949, the UN stopped the fighting and restored peace. • The UN had passed its first test. • What Was President Truman's "Fair Deal"? • When Harry Truman became president in 1945, he had been vice president for less than three months.

16. Section 2- Searching for Peace • Although he had spent many years in the Senate, he had little experience dealing with the problems that faced the nation. • Truman wanted to stabilize the country and work toward a lasting peace with other nations. • The months that followed the end of World War II were difficult for Truman. • He faced many problems at home and abroad. • Truman presented Congress with his own plan form improving the country. • The program was called the "Fair Deal." • It was based on the ideas of the New Deal.

17. Section 2- Searching for Peace • Truman wanted: • • more people included in the Social Security system; • • the minimum wage increased; • • more money for education and science; and • • public housing in cities. • The Republicans attacked the Democrats and the Fair Deal policies. • They warned the American people about the power of "big government" and the growing power of labor unions.

18. Section 2- Searching for Peace • Acting on their fear, the Republican Congress ignored Truman's veto and passed the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. • This law allowed employers to hire non-union workers. • Union leaders opposed this law. • Who Won the 1948 Election? • Truman won his party's nomination in 1948, but few leaders believed he could win the election. • The Democratic Party was split apart over civil rights for African Americans.

19. Section 2- Searching for Peace • Truman supported civil rights. • As a result, southern Democrats left the party and formed a new States' Rights "Dixiecrat" party. • Truman campaigned by train, often speaking 10 times a day. • The Republican Party had nominated former New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey.

20. Section 2- Searching for Peace • Union workers supported Truman. • African American voters supported his stand on civil rights. • Truman defeated Dewey by more than two million votes.

21. Section 3- Cold War Begins • Even though the United States and the Soviet Union had been allies during the final days of World War II, a struggle between the two countries began soon after the war. • Since World War I, Communists had taken control of the government of the Soviet Union. • These leaders promoted the spread of Communism to other countries. • What Was the Cold War? • The United States feared that the Soviet goal was world domination under Communism. • The Soviet Union opposed UN peacekeeping efforts.

22. Section 3- Cold War Begins • Western nations, including America, started to distrust the Soviet Union. • This conflict was called the cold war. • Its weapons were mainly economics and politics. • The cold war caused each nation to stay armed just in case it became an actual war. • The Soviet Union promised to hold free elections in Eastern European countries when World War II ended. • This was part of the Yalta Agreement.

23. Section 3- Cold War Begins • Early in 1946, it was clear that Joseph Stalin did not plan to keep his promise. • Stalin wanted the governments in Eastern Europe and Germany to be Communist. • The United States was concerned about the spread of Communism in Europe. • Communism was a threat to democratic governments. • Most small countries would not be able to defend themselves against Communism without the help of the United States.

24. Section 3- Cold War Begins • Winston Churchill, wartime leader of Great Britain, told an audience at a college in Missouri that "an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent" of Europe. • He said Communist dictators controlled the people of Eastern Europe. • These dictators were supported by the powerful Soviet Union. • The "Iron Curtain" stood for the military weapons that the Soviet Union used to keep control of these nations. • Churchill challenged the United States.

25. Section 3- Cold War Begins • He believed that the United States had the power to stop the spread of Communism before the democratic governments of Europe were threatened. • What Was the Containment Policy? • The United States believed it needed a policy to fight the spread of Communism. • It developed a new policy called the Truman Doctrine. • The spread of Communism was compared to water. • Water flows wherever there is no resistance to it.

26. Section 3- Cold War Begins • The Soviet expansion was thought of in this way. • Water can be contained by dams. • Perhaps Communism could be contained by applying American force wherever the Soviet Union tried to gain influence. • The new policy of containment was tested in 1947. • Turkey and Greece had serious political and economic problems after World War II. • The Soviet Union wanted part of Turkey's territory. • Civil war had broken out in Greece.

27. Section 3- Cold War Begins • Communist forces tried to gain power in each country. • In March 1947, President Truman asked Congress for $400 million to help these countries. • He said that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting ... outside pressures .... If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world." • Congress approved. • Greece and Turkey were able to defeat those countries that wanted to overthrow their governments.

28. Section 3- Cold War Begins • The Truman Doctrine, now called the containment policy, had passed its first test. • What Was the Marshall Plan? • Secretary of State George C. Marshall knew that the United • States had to help Europe after the war. • European cities had to be rebuilt and weak economies had to be made stronger. • Marshall hoped to help Europeans avoid Communist takeovers.

29. Section 3- Cold War Begins • He asked the leaders of Europe to find out how much money they needed to rebuild their countries. • A four-year, multibillion-dollar plan was proposed. • Congress agreed to fund the European Recovery Program, or the Marshall Plan as it came to be known. • The Soviet Union opposed the program. • What Was the Berlin Blockade and Airlift? • When World War II ended, Germany was divided among the four Allies-the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France.

30. Section 3- Cold War Begins • France, Great Britain, and the United States agreed to combine their sections of West Germany into one nation. • It was called the Federal Republic of Germany. • The Soviet Union objected. • To show their anger, the Soviets set up a blockade in 1948. • This cut off road and train traffic into Berlin. • The German city of Berlin, capital of Germany before 1945, was located in East Germany.

31. Section 3- Cold War Begins • The Soviet Union controlled East Germany. • The city of Berlin was supposed to be open to France, Great Britain, and the United States. • Because the Soviet Union closed off the city, Berlin was not able to get supplies from Western Europe. • Three days after the blockade was set up, President Truman ordered an airlift of supplies to Berlin. • For more than a year, planes carried tons of supplies to Berlin. • Finally, the Soviet Union gave in.

32. Section 3- Cold War Begins • West Berlin remained a free, democratic city. • Why Was NATO Formed? • The Berlin blockade made Congress think that the United States should join Canada and 10 European nations for the protection of one another. • In 1949, the countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). • This group's treaty said that an attack on one member would be considered an attack on all members.

33. Section 3- Cold War Begins • NATO would have its own military troops sent by the member nations. • General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first head of the NATO force. • The United States volunteered 350,000 troops.

34. Section 4-War in Korea • Communism in Asia also presented a problem for the United States and its allies. • Since the 1920s, a civil war had been waged between two Chinese political groups. • Those groups were the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party, which controlled the Chinese government. • During World War II, the parties joined together to fight the invading Japanese. • With the defeat of Japan, these rival political groups began to fight each other again. • The United States supported the Nationalist Party.

35. Section 4-War in Korea • In 1949, the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, defeated the Nationalist Party. • The Truman administration opposed the new Chinese Communist government, but there was little that they could do about it. • The Communist Chinese revolution caused bitter political debates in the United States over who had "lost China” • The peninsula of Korea is located between China and Japan. • During World War II, the Japanese conquered Korea.

36. Section 4-War in Korea • After the war, the country was divided into two parts. • The Soviet Union occupied the northern section. • The United States controlled South Korea. • In 1948, the democratic Republic of Korea was formed in the south. • America withdrew its troops from the south and provided economic aid to the new country.

37. Section 4-War in Korea • The Soviet Union created a Communist government in North Korea called the Democratic People's Republic. • From the beginning, there was tension between North and South Korea. • On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. • Two days later, the United Nations Security Council declared that North Korea was wrong. • The Security Council asked the UN to help South Korea. • The Soviets had been boycotting the UN, so they were unable to veto this plan of action.

38. Section 4-War in Korea • With UN backing, President Truman ordered American troops to support the South Koreans. • How Did Fighting Begin? • Fifteen other nations agreed to help South Korea. • Still, the defense of South Korea was mainly an American responsibility. • President Truman refused to call the fighting in Korea a war. • Instead, Truman called it a "police action." • The goal was to force North Korean troops to return to their own territory.

39. Section 4-War in Korea • Armed with many modern tanks and weapons supplied by the Soviet Union and China, North Korea captured Seoul, the South Korean capital. • General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the American troops, was not prepared to fight an offensive war. • Soon only a small area in the southeast remained under UN control. • MacArthur set up a defensive line at the southern port of Pusan. • Then, with the aid of 50,000 more American troops, the UN forces were able to stop the North Koreans and take the offensive.

40. Section 4-War in Korea • MacArthur and his troops were able to push the North Korean army past their own capital city toward the Chinese province of Manchuria. • Communist China had warned the UN that it would become involved if troops moved any closer to Manchuria. • MacArthur told Truman that China would not enter the war. • However, on November 26, 1950, about 300,000 Chinese soldiers attacked the American army in North Korea.

41. Section 4-War in Korea • The American troops were pushed back into South Korea. • Fortunately, by the following spring, they were able to set up a new defensive line there. • General MacArthur asked President Truman for permission to bomb China. • Truman feared that bombing would bring the Soviet Union into the war. • When Truman refused, MacArthur asked Congress for permission. • This action angered Truman. • General MacArthur was challenging the power of the president.

42. Section 4-War in Korea • Truman fired MacArthur in April 1951. • How Did the Korean War End? • Peace talks began in July 1951. • The two sides disagreed on the problem of prisoner exchange. • The Communists wanted all prisoners returned to their homeland. • The United Nations wanted to give the prisoners a choice. • The negotiations continued for two years.

43. Section 4-War in Korea • An agreement was reached in July 1953. • Prisoners had their choice. • North and South Korea became two separate nations. • North and South Korea each withdrew 1.25 miles from the final battle line. • This formed a 2.5 mile neutral zone between them.

44. Section 4-War in Korea • The North Koreans and Chinese who opposed the Communists in North Korea were allowed to stay in South Korea. • To provide protection from any future attacks, American troops stayed in South Korea. • The United States also gave further economic aid.

45. Section 5-Challenge and Change in the 1950’s • The Republicans argued that the Democratic Party had become filled with corruption. • They claimed that the Truman administration had handled the Korean War badly. • "It is time for a change” the Republicans said. • General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican candidate, was elected president in 1952. • He won in a landslide victory over Adlai Stevenson.

46. Section 5-Challenge and Change in the 1950’s • Known as "Ike” Eisenhower was a hero of World War II. • He took office in 1953 and became a popular president. • The nation's economy was doing well during most of the years Eisenhower held office. • Soldiers who had returned from fighting in World War II and Korea had started families. • New home construction soared, as did the need for more and better American products. • During this time, the lives of most Americans improved.

47. Section 5-Challenge and Change in the 1950’s • The fear of Communism and the Soviet Union still existed. • The Soviet Union developed an atomic bomb. • Americans were worried about a war using atomic weapons, or nuclear war. • People built bomb shelters in their backyards. • Cities set up air raid warning signals. • Schoolchildren were taught to get under their desks or go to a certain place quickly when they heard air raid sirens.

48. Section 5-Challenge and Change in the 1950’s • What Was McCarthyism? • In 1947, President Truman and other political leaders feared that Communists were working within the United States government. • Truman issued an order creating a loyalty-security program for federal employees. • During the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, nearly 7,000 federal workers suspected of being "security risks" were either fired or forced to resign.

49. Section 5-Challenge and Change in the 1950’s • Americans feared Communism, and Senator Joseph McCarthy used this fear for his own political gain. • He kept saying that traitors were trying to destroy the country. • McCarthy became one of the most feared members of the Senate. • Many American educators, journalists, and entertainers lost their jobs as a result of his accusations. • Others had their reputations ruined. • For a long time, few politicians were willing to challenge McCarthy.

50. Section 5-Challenge and Change in the 1950’s • McCarthy began to investigate army officials. • The Senate held televised hearings for 36 days in 1954. • When television audiences saw McCarthy as a lying bully, they demanded an investigation. • A special Senate committee found that most of McCarthy's charges were untrue. • With the help of television, the American people were able to take away much of McCarthy's power. • The campaign he had used to make his accusations soon became known as McCarthyism.